Do floats in these parades normally go so fast that pedestrians can’t get out of the way? I’ve never been to New Orleans and never will, so it’s hard to comprehend that 2 people have been killed by slow moving floats unless they’re very drunk or high on something.
I’ve been many times on business though never during Mardi Gras but I know a number of people who have attended. Yes, a lot of drinking with huge crowds and many parades at night on narrow streets (Steve G. gives an apt description).
New Orleans is a great city and I recommend it highly if only for the magnificent WW2 museum.
My heartfelt thoughts go out to the families & friends of the deceased. I don’t think the floats go any faster than people walk, but there is a lot going on at those parades (loud music, people flashing body-parts, beaded-necklaces being tossed, etc.), which would be a huge distraction to anyone working the parade float. In the case of the first death, even if someone on the float did notice the woman fall between the two float trailers which were hitched together, the driver of the tractor pulling the trailers probably couldn’t be notified to stop until it was too late. From the article it sounds like each float will require it’s own tractor now which will be safer… but maybe for future they should require that a safety/emergency light or other system be installed on the tractors to notify the driver of a safety issue that they need to stop for. Wouldn’t be hard to do, and can probably do it for $20-$30 by just installing an automotive relay off the tractor’s battery and run the on/off positive & negative wires to switches or buttons on the parade-float trailers, then wire one of those magnetic trailer lights (so you can take it off after the parade) to the main switch lead off the relay and stick that trailer light right up on the hood of the trailer so the driver will notice when the safety/emergency button/switch has been triggered. Could even use a strobe or flasher relay so it flashes to get the driver’s attention quicker. They’d just need to assign one of the people working the float-trailer as the float safety person, who would be responsible for hitting the safety switch if they need the driver to stop for any reason.
Do floats in these parades normally go so fast that pedestrians can’t get out of the way? I’ve never been to New Orleans and never will, so it’s hard to comprehend that 2 people have been killed by slow moving floats unless they’re very drunk or high on something.
I’ve been many times on business though never during Mardi Gras but I know a number of people who have attended. Yes, a lot of drinking with huge crowds and many parades at night on narrow streets (Steve G. gives an apt description).
New Orleans is a great city and I recommend it highly if only for the magnificent WW2 museum.
My heartfelt thoughts go out to the families & friends of the deceased. I don’t think the floats go any faster than people walk, but there is a lot going on at those parades (loud music, people flashing body-parts, beaded-necklaces being tossed, etc.), which would be a huge distraction to anyone working the parade float. In the case of the first death, even if someone on the float did notice the woman fall between the two float trailers which were hitched together, the driver of the tractor pulling the trailers probably couldn’t be notified to stop until it was too late. From the article it sounds like each float will require it’s own tractor now which will be safer… but maybe for future they should require that a safety/emergency light or other system be installed on the tractors to notify the driver of a safety issue that they need to stop for. Wouldn’t be hard to do, and can probably do it for $20-$30 by just installing an automotive relay off the tractor’s battery and run the on/off positive & negative wires to switches or buttons on the parade-float trailers, then wire one of those magnetic trailer lights (so you can take it off after the parade) to the main switch lead off the relay and stick that trailer light right up on the hood of the trailer so the driver will notice when the safety/emergency button/switch has been triggered. Could even use a strobe or flasher relay so it flashes to get the driver’s attention quicker. They’d just need to assign one of the people working the float-trailer as the float safety person, who would be responsible for hitting the safety switch if they need the driver to stop for any reason.